The Kremlin's troll army

A new battleground has emerged in the information war between Russia and its western rivals.

The murder of an opposition politician in Moscow, Boris Nemtsov, is the latest big political story to come out of a country, where the media are a story of their own.

Over the past year, a new battleground has emerged in the information war between Russia and its western rivals. You can find it in the comments section of just about any news site that covers Russia, the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin or the battle over Ukraine.

And if you are going to go to war - it is best to have an army on your side. In this case, a troll army. The Russian troll army is reportedly paid by the state to go online and either comment favourably about its political masters or pollute the discussion with profanity or antagonism to the point where no-one else wants to take part.

News organisations did not see this coming but they cannot help but notice the number and nature of the comments. So how do they handle it? Usually by shutting down the debate, which, for an army of trolls amounts to mission accomplished. And Russia's is by no means the only government that does this.

The Listening Post's Nic Muirhead reports on the troll army that takes its marching orders from the Kremlin.